Officially, the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X arrive during the holiday season. In its reveal, Xbox simply listed ‘Holiday 2025’ as the release window. This would suggest to us sometime in November onwards, but a new leak suggests we’re getting the new handhelds as soon as mid-October, specifically October 16.

The official announcement is expected to come at Gamescom 2025 (on August 20), where the handhelds will be playable, even giving gamers the chance to play the unreleased Hollow Knight sequel, Silksong. Rumor has it that pre-orders for the device will also kick off at Gamescom at the previously-leaked €599 and €899 price points, for the Xbox Ally and Ally X, respectively.

ROG Xbox Ally & Ally X could launch on October 16

eXtas1s was the first to mention an October release. No specific date was given, but the rumor was backed up by a leaked product sheet from an official ASUS distributor in Spain. Well-known leaker billbil-kun has now “confirmed” the exact date for the European launch as October 16 – it’s not yet known if this will translate to other regions. According to their sources, which are left unnamed, the new PC handhelds will be available at a range of retailers, including Amazon – not exclusive to the Microsoft store.

Xbox will be running a couple of livestreams at Gamescom this August, so everything should become clear in less than two weeks. The new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds will be discussed in the first of the two streams, on August 20. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will also get another reveal, just after we’ve learned of its Secure Boot requirement.

Wednesday, August 20

• Xbox @ gamescom 2025 Broadcast
  • Start: 6am PT / 9am EDT / 2pm BST / 3pm CEST 
  • Featuring the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, Grounded 2, Keeper, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and more.

Thursday, August 21  

• Xbox @ gamescom 2025 Broadcast
  • Start:  6am PT / 9am EDT / 2pm BST / 3pm CEST 
  • Featuring Ninja Gaiden 4, Overwatch 2, The Outer Worlds 2, and more.

Source: Xbox

Given the lack of a specific source, we recommend taking the leaked date with a pinch of salt. In any case, if you’re keen to learn about the performance of the new flagship ROG Xbox Ally X, the closest you’ll get right now is benchmarks of the MSI Claw A8 – the first Z2 Extreme handheld. Results so far suggest the new Ally X might not be the generational leap we hoped for.

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Charlie Noon

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